In the tenth year of Yuansui, on December 18th, in the northern border of Zhangzhou, Linxin Lake. The mountain breeze caressed the forest, and the night owls lowed. The dark blue sky came out from the gaps between the treetops, and there were no clouds in the sky.
The stars are rare.
After escaping from Mulu City, Princess Tuya arranged for personal attendants to take good care of Jiang Yan along the way. At this time, the young man's injuries were almost healed, but he did not leave. First, he did not want to owe
He hoped to find a chance to repay the other party's affection before leaving. Secondly, now that he was thousands of miles away from Wanzhou and Mulu City, he really couldn't think of where else he could go or where he should go.
Zhangzhou is located in the northeast of the mainland, and is bounded by Lingshui River from Sizhou. There is a tributary in the upper reaches of Lingshui River, called Qingyuan River, which originates from Mingquan Ridge. After the two meet at Yuenuma, they then flow westward into the Canglan Ocean.
The Qingyuan River and Moon Marsh are the boundaries, the vast Lingbei Plateau in the south is the territory of the Peng Kingdom, and the large virgin forest to the north of the Mingquan Ridge is the national border of the Sui Kingdom.
Ninety percent of Sui's population lives on the narrow plain near the Suilang Gorge at the northern foot of Mingquan Ridge. Its capital, Jiushan, is only a small town with a population of only over 200,000.
However, the people of the country are good at doing strange and cunning arts. Perhaps it is related to the inexhaustible natural resources in Zhuzhou, and various rare mineral deposits are much richer than in other states. Therefore, when they have nothing to do, the people of the country will study these reasons.
The precious materials mined underground were used to make shocking new products. Over time, their mining technology has also been improved to an unprecedented level.
Because of this, the people of Sui have gradually developed an indifferent character from generation to generation. Even if the entire country has only ten thousand soldiers, the Wei Liang and Peng countries that border them have never thought of going north to invade.
In particular, the Peng Kingdom even announced to the world that if anyone attacks the Sui Kingdom without authorization, the Peng Kingdom will regard them as mortal enemies. The reason for this is probably because the blue flames that the country is proud of need to be attacked.
It can only be made by relying on Sui Guo's superb mining skills to extract crude oil from the depths of the moon swamp.
At present, in this forest full of towering trees, Jiang Yanzheng was sitting alone in front of his tent, flicking a bonfire on the ground with a small branch. The Shuodi warriors escorting Tuya gathered around.
There was another fire in the distance. The aroma of meat was floating in the air, but the young man didn't want to go over and join in the fun, and he didn't know what to talk to them.
The orange-red firelight danced on the young man's still somewhat immature face, reflecting as if there was a golden stream of light flashing in his eyes. The snow in the forest was also melted by the bonfire, and gathered into a line under the thick fallen leaves.
The creek flows quietly.
Creak, creak, footsteps behind him were walking through the snow toward Jiang Yan's tent. It sounded a little hasty and a little cautious. The young man was already quite familiar with the footsteps, and he guessed who was coming without looking back.
It was the Princess of Di.
Tuya still wears the red cloak embroidered with gold, and her head is covered with black braids. Against the backdrop of the white snow all around her, she looks like an elf in the forest, occupying the most brilliant color. These days.
, the girl would come to Jiang Yan every day to say a few words. However, it seemed like a conversation, but in fact, most of the time, she was the only one talking.
The black-eyed boy said nothing, but looked up at the other person, moved his butt to the side, and gave a small piece of the tree stump under him. The princess did not sit down, but stood opposite him and asked softly.
:
"Why don't you join us? They just hunted a deer and are skinning it and grilling it."
"No, I'm full."
Jiang Yan responded. It wasn't that he deliberately acted so coldly, but he really didn't understand why the other party always wanted to integrate himself into those foreign races, and he didn't know how to respond - he still felt sorry for these Shuodi people from the beginning to the end.
You should be wary, after all, not long ago, the princess's warrior named Du Lie almost took his own life.
As if Tuya knew what the young man was thinking, she moved her lips and continued cautiously: "I just - don't want you to feel lonely."
"Thank you, I'm just sitting here, it's fine." Jiang Yan lowered his head again as he said that, just staring blankly at the fire in front of him.
"In the eyes of southerners, we are all uncivilized barbarians. But I know that you are different from those people, otherwise you would not have followed us all the way here."
Tuya still didn't give up. Seeing that the other party didn't want to say more, she squatted down in front of the bonfire, picked up a small stick and fiddled with it to make the fire burn brighter. "I just want to tell you, wear
Beyond this forest is the territory of the Yimu tribe. The Yimu tribe has been friends with me, Muyun, for generations. If you want to leave, I can ask them to send you away."
The movement of the black-eyed boy's hand suddenly stopped, but he still did not say a word. Seeing this, Tuya finally showed a faint smile on his face:
"I don't mean to drive you away. I just feel that if you plan to accompany me back to Yanluoyuan, it is necessary to persuade you to give up this idea as soon as possible."
Jiang Yan finally raised his head, but opened his two black eyes wider. Tuya ignored him, nodded slightly and continued:
"Most southerners don't know the past of the grassland people, and naturally they don't know the entanglements involved. In the legend of the grassland, all the people in the world were transformed by the sweat dripping from the body of Pangu when he created the world. Then.
As the body of the Great God Pangu gradually decayed and turned into the two ten-thousand-meter-high mountains of Lancang and Iron Ridge, the Shuodi people also began to thrive in the land under the mountains that was favored by the god..."
This was the first time the young man heard the other party talk about Shuo Di. However, what he didn't expect was that the creation gods believed by these so-called barbarians were almost the same as the descriptions in the legend of Dasheng.
"Over the past thousands of years, although the five major tribes of Onma, Muyun, Qingzi, Chuoluo and Yimu have gradually appeared on this grassland, they have always been like the gravel on the Gobi Desert. They have their own affairs. Every time
In disaster years, the cattle and sheep raised by various ministries will die in droves, and bloody wars will inevitably break out afterwards, so that the mammoths that were used to fight on the ice sheet are almost extinct. Until more than a hundred years ago, a man
A great leader has arrived in the Muyun tribe, his name is Xu Muyan, the hero of the Bakwuqin family and my great-grandfather."
When he was in Mulu City, Jiang Yan once heard Qi Ziyin mention this name. This man seemed to be the first Tianhehan in the history of the grassland. And the Shuodi people held up his Gray Wolf and White Deer flag and marched southward in one fell swoop.
Dasheng's defense line almost made the emperor of Yujing a prisoner. However, the young man never thought that the girl in front of him would be a descendant of Xu Muyan.
"According to legend, my great-grandfather was the son of a gray wolf and a white deer, and was sent by heaven to save all living beings. Therefore, he quickly unified all tribes with the iron heavy mountain. You should also know what happened next. Among the southerners, this
This invasion was called the Shuodi Rebellion. Unfortunately, this glorious victory, unprecedented in the history of our clan, did not last long and ended with civil strife in the Muyun tribe and the brutal assassination of Xu Muyan. Followed closely.
What's more, the five major tribes have been fighting for decades, and finally they can no longer maintain the unity of the grassland. The Muyun tribe also weakened to the point where it was almost forgotten after Guan Ning's soldiers defeated the Iron Mountains, and could only shrink to
Struggling to survive in the tundra at the foot of Lancang Mountain."
It is hard for Jiang Yan to imagine, as a princess of Di Ren who is half of Yubei blood, which side she stands on when talking about this past event, especially when she talks about the insulting names Shuodi and Manzi.
.But he still didn't make a sound, just sitting there and listening to the other party quietly.
"Today, decades later, the position of Tianhehan in the Muyun tribe has finally passed into the hands of my Erda, Qinna. He has been arrogant since he was a child, hoping to recreate what the Bakwuqin family created a hundred years ago.
Brilliantly, he unified all the tribes of Shuodi. Therefore, after the death of Fuhan, Eda immediately issued the first edict after succeeding to the throne, ordering me to go south to make peace with Ye State, in the hope of getting enough financial and material resources to rebuild a common people.
The cavalry was as powerful as Tiechongshan back then. However, this time he seems to be a little too impatient..."
In this way, Jiang Yan finally understood everything. Tuya's brother originally planned to use his sister as a bargaining chip to give the Muyun Department in danger a chance to regain its strength. However, now he was defeated and accidentally killed everyone.
Not only was he not of Ye Kingdom's clan blood, but he had already become a key criminal wanted by the new monarch of Ye Kingdom. If he insists on following Tuya back to Yanluoyuan, the first thing Qin Nahehan will do is
Send his head to Ye State in exchange for more benefits.
Jiang Yan's throat trembled slightly, and he wanted to ask a question, but he still couldn't open his mouth. The two fell into a long silence, and neither of them said a word until late at night.
It's past midnight, and the laughter of the Shuodi warriors in the forest has also subsided, and they seem to have gradually fallen into a deep sleep. Now in the camp, there are only the shadows of a few night watch sentries, walking back and forth with creaking footsteps.
Moving around. Apart from that, there was a crackling bonfire and the occasional low call of a night owl.
However, at this time, Jiang Yan was tossing and turning in his tent, unable to sleep. He repeatedly recalled what Princess Tuya had said to him before, and he was extremely entangled in his heart.
He also wanted to listen to what the other party said and leave, but he clearly realized that he couldn't just let Tuya go back alone and face Hehan's anger, censure, and punishment for the failure of the marriage. But he couldn't help but worry, if
If you really go to the grassland yourself, not only will you not be able to help, it will actually add fuel to the fire and make the situation even more difficult to deal with.
In addition, there is another thing that he has always been unable to figure out - that is, as the princess of Muyun tribe, why did Tuya take the initiative to warn herself of the upcoming danger? And why did she rescue him several times?
A nobody with Do Lie's blood on his face?
The more the boy thought about it, the more doubtful and uneasy he became. His palms and soles were all sweaty. He simply turned over and climbed up, put on his clothes and got out of the tent, hoping to use the cold air to help him calm down. But when he walked near Tuya's tent,
At this time, I found that there was still a faint light burning in the tent. I could still hear the faint sound of someone talking.
"Aren't you asleep yet?"
Curiosity took over Jiang Yan's heart at this moment. Seeing that there was no one else around, he quietly moved forward and put his ear to the tent, trying to find out what was going on inside.
"Princess, have you really thought about it? I still have the opportunity to write a letter to Hehan and tell him that he failed to find your whereabouts. You should stay in the south and never go back."
A slightly hoarse voice sounded, it was Yuan Ti who led the troops to welcome the princess back to the Muyun tribe.
"Old General, do you think Erda will believe any of the reasons you said? This time he specially sent you to take me back, just to kill two birds with one stone. If you can find me, you will no longer have to doubt that you are a southerner.
Your loyalty to him. And if you can't find me, he will have an excuse to get rid of you!"
Princess Tuya's voice was calm, but she had already seen through everything.
"If I could trade my humble life for the freedom of the princess, I would be willing to do so!"
Yuan Ti suddenly knelt down on one knee, causing his armor to rattle.
"Old General... I know that you are thinking that I have been wronged in the Muyun Department because of my mother, and you wish you could send me away immediately and never return. But you have never thought that although I have
Half of Yubei's blood, but also half of Shuodi! That grassland is where I grew up, and it is also my home! The old general knows the current situation of the Muyun Department, how can it sustain itself with other people?
All the ministries are at full-scale war? And how can I watch helplessly as Eda uses his stubbornness and arrogance to completely destroy everything that my father has worked so hard to achieve! That is the only peace that my Muyun Division has now!"
Tuya was a little excited when she spoke, and even her voice became choked with sobs. Then, there was another period of suffocating silence. Yuan Ti seemed to finally understand the thoughts of the seemingly weak girl in front of him, and stopped trying to persuade her.
Tuya also breathed a long sigh of relief because she finally let out the words she had been holding in her heart for a long time and wanted to say but dared not say.
"Old General, I - I have already told Jiang Yan to leave as soon as possible. After all, he is just an outsider, and the disputes on the grassland have nothing to do with him."
After a long time, Princess Shuo Di murmured again.
"Did the princess still talk to that boy? You really, how long have you been, are still thinking about an outsider. However, you let him leave, not just for this reason, right?"
Yuan Ti's tone was obviously different from before, more like an elder talking to the girl.
"Oh, old general, don't laugh at me. I did it because - because of that young man - he has an unusual aura. I think the old general can feel it, right? It stands to reason that he won the fight.
The arena is my Shuo Di’s son-in-law Chenglong Kuai. This trip south has already made me lose Du Lie, and I don’t want to lose anyone else..."
Tuya suddenly felt a little embarrassed when she was asked. Yuan Ti didn't answer when he saw this, and just sighed with concern.
After returning to his tent, Jiang Yan's heart not only failed to calm down, but instead became more and more confused. He was somewhat ignorantly aware of the profound meaning of Tuya's words, but he knew that he could never accept it.
I don't know how much time passed before I fell asleep amidst the repeated struggles.
However, not long after, the boy vaguely felt someone pushing him gently. When he opened his eyes, he found that it was Tuya who had broken into the tent. At this time, Princess Di Ren seemed to have just fallen asleep, and the pigtails on her head were all
They spread out and curled up together, looking a bit messy. He was not wearing formal clothes, but was wrapped in a large red cloak with gold rims.
Jiang Yan was about to ask a question when he suddenly heard a shrill scream from deep in the forest outside the tent. The princess in front of him also changed color immediately, and tears were about to well up in her eyes:
"Later in the middle of the night, there was a sudden commotion in the distant woods. The old general was worried that something would happen, so he led a few warriors to inquire about the situation, but they never returned. Now there are less than ten people left in the camp. You
Can you accompany me to find the old general?"
Jiang Yan also felt that something was wrong. He immediately got up and dressed, and took out his Diamond-Tooth Xiaotianmo and Iron Tire Bow. All the muscles in his body tensed up: "How long has the old general been away?"
The scream just now reminded him of his childhood experience. It was not a war cry when two armies were fighting, but a desperate cry when civilians were being slaughtered!
"It's been more than half an hour. Your horse is ready. If you come, follow me!"
As she spoke, Princess Tuya had already turned around and walked out of the tent, jumped on her white jade lion horse, led the few remaining Shuodi warriors, and galloped towards the outside of the camp with torches held high. The black-eyed boy saw this.
He immediately stepped onto his own Wu Chen, clamped his legs and followed behind.
The team had traveled less than a mile when they saw that the snow in front of them was covered with vertical and horizontal footprints and hoof prints. Everyone was about to dismount their horses to check when they suddenly heard another scream coming from the forest, followed by several people covered in blood.
Blood-stained figures also emerged from the darkness beyond the firelight!
"They are people from the Yimube! Were they attacked by wild animals?"
Tuya recognized the costume of the person at a glance, but was frightened by the bloody figure. Almost at the same time, behind the exhausted crowd, another group of warriors riding tall horses appeared!
At first Jiang Yan thought it was Yuan Ti who had returned with his team, but upon closer inspection he discovered that the warriors were not wearing the ordinary leather armor of the Shuodi people, but heavy armor similar to the Xuanjia of Ye State. Even
Even the war horse under his crotch was covered with a thick layer of steel protective gear on its vital parts!
Covered in armor, the cavalry looked like moving hills. The weapons shone coldly in their hands, and they soon caught up with the fleeing Yimu tribesmen and killed them on the spot. Very quickly.
, the cavalry also discovered Tuya and others appearing in the forest, and without hesitation lined up and launched a charge!
Muyun's team was dispersed in an instant. Jiang Yan clearly saw that several warriors around him had no way to fight back, and their heads were missing. Princess Tuya was also frightened and froze.
He actually reined in his horse and stopped at the opponent's front line, completely exposing himself to the butcher's knife!
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